Continental
X-King
Tire

Product Description

Its developers say it can do anything! Its riders say, “That's myTyre!” Super fast, but nevertheless with a good grip,The X-King was developed withTheTopeak Ergon mountain bike professionalTeam. Despite pronounced studs,The X-King rolls off smoothly and very quietly. No matter if you are on your own or in aTeam, with Race and Mountain King,The super-light X-King easily covers many uses, ranging from cross country/raceTo Alpcross.The X-King simply leaves its competitors behind. Its Black Chili Co

These came Oem with my 2013 rift zone. In 3 months Ive had my bike, center nubs are already COMPLETELY worn out and The bike has Not been street ridden. Ran these tubeless from day 1, always leaked air, had pinchflats on both, tires burp easily... My geax saguaros by comparison lasted 9 months of extensive use and were still in good condition when i Sold my old bike... I dont recommend these tires in any way

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Submitted by
Jay
a Cross Country Rider

Date Reviewed: September 29, 2014

Strengths: I ride the protection 2.2 and it works perfect for the dry hardpack in northern california

Weaknesses: The center knobs wear down quickly in rocky conditions.

Bottom Line:

This is my number one choice for a XC 29" tubeless rear tire. I Have ran the x king 2.2 protection in the front and in the back but found it to work best in the back with a mountain king 2.4 protection in the front. Before I found this tire i was riding Schwalbe Racing Ralphs and was constantly having to deal with ripped side walls, however once i went with the x king and mountain king i have not had to deal with a sidewall tear again even while rideing the same trails.

Strengths: Soft compound, tons of grip at lower pressures, especially on loose terrain, shallow snow, soft ground surfaces. One of the tires that sits absolutely strait on a rim. A high-quality product.

Weaknesses: Can't come close to Ardents in cornering at high pressures. X-king certainly has more tendency to skip. Rolling poorly at low pressure. Finding the good bias is pretty tricky. Plus 2.4 is the same width as my 2.2 Geax Saguaro (it is not probably bad)

Bottom Line:

I use 29x2.4 folding as a front tire. To be honest, I expected more performance on hardpacks. You can find a tire that has more grip on dry country roads with less rolling resistance.
Nevertheless, it is superb at lower pressures when road goes off-road (except more or less deep mud).
I believe if it was more versatile, it would be rated with "five burning flames".

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Submitted by
Steve

Date Reviewed: October 10, 2013

Strengths: Nice tread design

Weaknesses: Leak air running tubeless more than others. Side walls are supposed to be reinforced but are not durable.

Bottom Line:

Cheap. On sale, the price on the steel bead version was too much for me to resist. After seeing the poor durability after a few rides I regretted buying them. Got what I paid for. My commuter bikes loves them!

Am running the protection version. Had some problems getting a seal despite using UST rims. Fixed this with some liberal application of Stans no Tubes.
Was very excited after using them on loose XC trails - good grip F and R.
I have lost some lugs after a couple of rides on rocky terrain - not too bad as this has happened on Schwable UST tyres also on these tracks.

The most notable problem is that I have experienced some bad burping on a short, twisty hardpacked descent. ('The Luge' at Stromlo Forest Park here in the ACT). I repeated this four times with the same result - severely reduced tyre pressure and I can see where the Stans has blown out the sides. The last time I started with a high pressure - 39psi - but the tyre still came away from the rim.

If I hadn't stopped to inflate I'm sure this tyre would have come off the rim, I would have come off the bike, and a spectacular crash would have resulted. (I have experienced this with three of their tyres now as I bought a Mountain King 2 to try on the front.)

I have since put tubes in the tyres and lodged a customer complaint with Continental since this tyre seems unsafe. We'll see how long it takes to get action.

Strengths: Surprisingly good traction and performance for such a narrow tire (29 x2.2 was definitely narrower). Light, fast roller, fairly good grip.

Weaknesses: 2.2 was too narrow. Dances around in roots and rocks. Sidewall was really soft - blew out after relatively few rides.

Bottom Line:

These came stock on my Salsa Spearfish. Wire bead, 29x2.2 with tubes. For smoother terrain they were pretty nice tires, both wet and dry. As the rocks and roots get bigger they lose their charm. If forced to use again, I would go with the 2.4 protection. I randomly blew the sidewall out, which is not a huge surprise, they were very thin. I liked it more as a rear tire and eventually switched to a Nevegal front. Heavier tire, but it offered so much more control.

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Submitted by
Busko

Date Reviewed: August 8, 2013

Strengths: Good allrounder. I haven't problem on any surface yet...

Weaknesses: Yeah. There can be a bit problem on wet rocks and roots...

Bottom Line:

I have these tires in 2.2 size on the front and also on the back. I have RaceSport version. I reccomend Protection version becouse of better prevetion of puncture...

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Submitted by
Utah Mike
a All Mountain Rider

Date Reviewed: July 30, 2013

Strengths: Fast. Low rolling resistance.

Weaknesses: 26" 2.0 & 2.2 are same size. 1 ride in 1 hour took 39 knobs off rear tire on a trail with some rocks. I never had a tire lose a third this many knobs over its life. Hates trails that are sloped crosswise (sideslip). Expensive, the MSRP (July 2013) is $65 but discounted 50% in some stores.

Bottom Line:

Not a confidence inspiring tire on even moderately difficult terrain. The tread won't last long on any rocks. OK for a dirt fire road if price is heavily discounted.

Strengths: Tires work well in loose sandy race conditions. Wire Bead is pretty cheap online. The 26 2.2's are bigger and wider than a lot of folks make out. These roll really well!

Weaknesses: Heavy but no matter for a 240# clyde.

Bottom Line:

I swapped these back in for my spendy rocket rons that literally wore out in dozen rides and sucked in loose gravel with sand. Folks say they are not as big as spec'd but I will tell you they are wider and taller than 2.25 rocket rons. They floated in the speedy sand/gravel sections and climbing improved as well.

Weaknesses: No traction in front. no good for fast donwhill with corners.

Bottom Line:

These tires came on my focus bike, never had a puncture with these tires, using tubes. BUT, no good for me as a front tire. had a couple accidents cause lack of traction. for me no good. I run these in the back and backwards, it has very good traction in mud and sand when pedaling. Very good. In front I run nevegal.

Strengths: Inexpensive
Sticky compound grips well
Tread pattern is relatively fast yet still does well on roots/rocks
Sheds mud well

Weaknesses: Width not as advertised
Pinhole leaks when run tubeless (though these stopped)
Weak casing deformed after 75 miles

Bottom Line:

Avoid.

Yes, these will eventually stop leaking tubeless - just put an extra little bit of sealant it and keep tabs on the pressure for the first few days. I was disappointed in the volume - these are 2.0 tires on every rim I put them on. On the front, they were just ok, but on the rear they were exceptional. Really sticky tread, climbed like heck over roots and rocks, didn't get gummed up with mud - I was sold. That is, until the casing deformed. These tires had less than 75 miles on them! I figured they would be more stout at 700 grams.

Maybe the other verisons would last longer.

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Submitted by
Lucas

Date Reviewed: May 5, 2013

Strengths: Fast rolling
Great traction on first ride

Weaknesses: Not the best traction after first ride
Weak sidewalls
Short life spand
Easy to punture tubes

Bottom Line:

This tire came on my new bike. I loved them the first ride then it all went down hill from there. Not in the fun way either.
After five rides there is a noticable wear on the tires. The sidwalls are starting to crack and i got 3 puntured tubes. On my kendas last year i got 3 the entire season.
I've used mountain kings before and got rid of them after 3 rides cuz they sucked so much and the side walls ripped so thats the end of my Continental experiment. Never again. Total garbage.

Weaknesses: Width is narrow than most of it's competitors. Sidewalls leak if used as tubeless.

Bottom Line:

These tires grip great over all kinds of terrain... they have extremely good braking grip.

When used with a tube this is probably the best tire out there for XC... however, let's face it. People ride tubeless now... it's better... and I'm just like everyone else in that respect. I use Stan's on all of my bikes... and that's where this tire fails. The sidewalls leak slowly, weeping Stan's out of numerous tiny little holes in the sidewall.

I've used dozens of tires throughout the years... different makes models (see below), this is the only tire that I've ever had to air up daily.

Strengths: These tires shed mud and grip in loose terrain very well. I went from GEAX AKA's to these because I live in a very moist area so the trails are mostly wet and sloppy so i needed something knobby to accommodate these conditions. Another very good thing about these tires is that they are fairly fast rolling and don't feel like you're pedaling big tractor tires, even at a low psi.

Weaknesses: A bit on the heavy side.

Bottom Line:

Overall a very good tire for the money. From what I can tell, they have worn well so far. I would buy these tires again